Sledgehammer slaying suspect waives arraignment

HAMPTON — Peter Bartoloni, the 70-year-old man police say killed his roommate with a sledgehammer earlier this month, waived his right to a probable cause hearing Thursday morning.

Bartoloni's hearing on second-degree murder charges was scheduled for 11 a.m. but a clerk in Seabrook Circuit Court said it was canceled.

Bartoloni is being held without bail at Rockingham County House of Corrections.

Earlier this month Robert “Bob” Roderick, 56, of 19 M Street in Hampton, was found dead by another roommate, Scott Anderson, and his girlfriend, Nicole Belanger, who lived across the alley way.

A longtime friend and former roommate of Roderick, Maggie Gauron, said at Bartoloni's arraignment that Roderick was disabled from a prior injury and he had no use of his left side.

Neighbors confirmed the week of Roderick's death that both men drank heavily. There are conflicting reports about what happened in the hours before Roderick's death.

Gauron said on the day Roderick died she drove him to the bank and then Kentucky Fried Chicken. She told reporters outside the courtroom she had no idea where the sledgehammer came from.

“We were close friends, very close friends,” she said as she held back tears.

Belanger said neighbors suspected Bartoloni planned to kill Roderick for some time, telling them Roderick would be better off dead and he would kill him.

Belanger also said neighbors suspected Bartoloni had been at a bar before the brutal attack. She was not sure if Roderick was with him.

In his booking photo, Bartoloni appears bloodied and bruised, as if he had been in a fight. Nobody could confirm how he was injured, but Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley confirmed the injuries happened before the time of his arrest.

Records show Bartoloni, the former Massachusetts resident, has a history of violent crime. He was convicted of rape in 1990 and assault to commit rape in 1980. The Associated Press reported in 1972 that Bartoloni was serving an 11- to 20-year sentence for armed robbery, unlawful possession of a shotgun and escape when he stabbed another inmate at what was then called Walpole State Prison.

A conviction charge in this case can bring a maximum sentence of life in prison.